Is the fix for the Phillies' offense already here?

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Bryce Harper and welcome to the Philly Show. Ruben Tomorrow Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todds. So lucky, it's the Philly Show. It's Monday, June thirtieth, twenty twenty five. Guys, how are we doing?

00:00:18
Speaker 2: Outstanding?

00:00:19
Speaker 3: Great? Back home from a long road trip.

00:00:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, long road trip, Ruben. You got to see a lot of ball, not a lot of offense. You got to see a lot of ball though, correct. Phillies went two and four on the road trip. We talked late last week. On Friday, they got swept in Houston. They scored one run in the entire series, but then they took two out of three in Atlanta, so kind of slowly turning the ship round. Although they only scored what three runs on Saturday and Sunday combined.

00:00:52
Speaker 2: So on this trip they had two zero's, two ones and a two and then they had the outlier at thirteen.

00:00:58
Speaker 1: But here's the thing, so they so a week ago today, the Phillies had a game and a half lead over the Mets in the National League Gase. They go two and four in the road trip. Where do they stand today? Game and a half lead over the Mets in the.

00:01:11
Speaker 2: Nationals and the Mets. But the Mets, but they didn't, you know, And they came back from five or five and a half down this earlier this month. But the Phillies are thirteen and thirteen in June. The Mets have lost thirteen on sixteen. If the Phillies just could be four or five games over five hundred this month, three or four, they could put some serious distance between them and the Mets. The Mets have been abysmal, yes, I mean they're starting, pitching is breaking and performing poorly. Their offense has been sporadic all season. They got swept in Pittsburgh over the weekend, outscored thirty to four.

00:01:52
Speaker 1: It could be worse, right, I guess, I guess worse, But this is about the Phillies winning the World Series. So let's start with the first pitch by Park's Casino. First pitch is brought to us exclusively by our partners at Parks Casino, Pennsylvania's number one casino. So how do we feel about the Phillies. Guys right now, they're pitching their butts off in the rotation offense. You saw like Rubin, I'm sure you're watching the game on Friday, right and you're saying, oh my god, here they go. Rubin put his pants on seven different ways on Friday before the game. Clearly that thought popped in my head. Ruben put his socks on differently, mister superstition, And yes, I did stopped Apparently you stopped doing it on Saturday and Sunday.

00:02:47
Speaker 3: I changed everything. No, I mean, obviously I'm very superstitious. But and I'm still a Phillies fan. I'm not in Phillies employee as some folks, but I am a Phillies fan, and you know, I want them to do well. Obviously, it's a weird, weird hitting lineup. I mean, it's as simple as that. It's just very strange. But I think back, and I think about it. What happened last year. They get out to a great start, awesome offense, they crush, and then they fade at the end. Why not them be mediocre for a while and then get hot at the right time in September October and win this thing. I mean, that's a possibility too. They have the talent to do it. I don't know if they have the consistency to do it, but they certainly have the talent to do it. And if they can somehow get hot at the right time. I don't know that like any necessary moves that Dombrowski makes are going to net, you know, totally change this team. I mean, because if you get one bat, is it really going to affect that much. It's really about Harper, Schwarber, Turner, Cassianos, Boom, all those guys in the lineup. But if they don't swing it, they're screwed. If they do swing it, they're gonna be fine. And I mean that's it. That's the bottom line. And for all those fans out there that are have great consternation about this team, they probably should have some, but they also have to you know, the team's gonna have to rely on those guys to come through.

00:04:32
Speaker 2: I totally agree with you. You know, I think about this all the time. The one bat is going to mitigate some of their problems if it's the right bat, if he's healthy, if he produces. You know, the one bat is going to move the needle a little bit enough to help, but a little bit depending on the bat you get and how he performs. We said this last year, if you're gonna win it, you're gonna win it with your big boys. You big boys have to get you there, the guys that are making the big bucks, the guys that you targeted, you know, two, three, four years ago, know, bringing them toward this point. It all has to come together with the guys here. I will say this, I do think a Bullpen edition can make a big difference, and I do think they will make one. But as far as the offense, it's this is what they have been now for for a number of years. Pointed this out last week. They got no hit in the World Series game. They can absolutely disappear for days on end. They can light it up for days on end. We saw it the other night, and uh, you know they they they they hit five home runs on this trip. Well that's pretty good. They hit them all in one game, right, and the other games they hit nothing. So it's what they are. They're they're they're here one night, they're going the next and you just have to you know, I do expect them to play act in October and you have to hope that they're they're here present, producing for as long as they last in the month of October.

00:05:49
Speaker 1: So on Saturday, I was chatting with al Moore, Ganty and Rob ellis on on w I P and Al said, listen, Daved Browski has to go back to being Dave Dombrowski, and he just has to empty the farm system and get that big bat and get that big arm. And the point I tried to make to Al, and I don't know how good I was at it, but the point I made to Al is al who's out there that is going to that who is supposedly out there and available on the offensive side, in the outfield side, because that's probably where you would try to find some help that would make that much of a difference. So we talked about these names, you know, a couple times last week. You've got Jared Duran, Taylor Ward, Cedric Mullins, Luis Robert Junior, Adlas Garcia, even like guy like Lord's Guriel Junior. You know, Byron Buckson would be a guy you know that has when he's healthy, he puts up huge numbers. But we've talked about him a ton on Friday and how the guy's play. I think more than like ninety two games in a season just once since twenty seventeen. That was one hundred and two games last year. So you know who's who's the offensive I don't know.

00:07:00
Speaker 3: I'll tell you the offensive fix is and he's put together some really good at bats is Otto Kemp. He's a type of hitter, honestly. I mean, he can't carry this team, but he's a type of hitter that they sort of looking for. Someone who has quality at bats, someone stays in the strike zone, somebody who hits the ball all over the field. He's not approven entity by any means. He's growing and he might get beat up for a while, but that's a type of hitter that you're sort of looking for. Somebody who can make contact at the right time and move the ball around the field and have an idea at the plate. I don't know. I don't know whether they're going to be able to go get somebody like that. I mean, you're looking at an Alex Bregman. You know, good luck getting that guy and figuring out how to keep him or let him go or re sign him and go through all that make rigormarole. I mean, it's it's it's just not going to happen. It's not all that realistic to find a guy. I mean, I mentioned last time I think we talked Tyler O'Neill a guy like that, and he's hurt all the time, but he also can impact the team from the right side with some power. I mean, is that a kind of a guy. I mean, it all kind of depends on what what their scouts think.

00:08:15
Speaker 2: But he's got two more years and he's owed an awful lot of money.

00:08:17
Speaker 3: He's owed a whole ton of money. So someone's gonna have to pay that back.

00:08:21
Speaker 2: And I like him a lot.

00:08:23
Speaker 3: I like the talent, but you're gonna have to like if he's sending Aidan Miller for this guy, you better get some money back, and you better hope that this son of a gun can rake and stay on the field. And so listen, there's so many risks to the guys that you know, people are tossing out there. I mean, people are talking about Luis Robert. Dude, guy stinks. Dude's not good. Yeah, you listen. I mean again, it's the guys who are in the lineup right now are gonna have to figure it out somehow, some way. And I still think that there is I mean, and I don't want to go on too much, but I still think that they're going through an adjustment period of like in between period of like you know, swing decisions and making sure they stay in the strike zone and driving the ball. And I think once that comes together, maybe in July or August or September, then these guys got a chance to take off as far as their power is concerned.

00:09:27
Speaker 2: Just a thought, well, if they're still getting caught in the middle, I mean, you can't be deciding hitting is reacting. See the pitch, Drive the pitch if it's a good one. I mean they got they gave. You know, Strider had some easy innings on Sunday, a couple seven pitch innings that are hacking it for stuff. But you know, I understand he's in his own with the fastball. Maybe you take a couple of hacks at it.

00:09:51
Speaker 3: So in the beginning of the game, they had a great plan and they just could not put the swing on it on the fastball that they got to hit that they needed to put on the fastball. I mean, they had chances. JT had a chance to do some damage. They had, you know, runners in scoring position. They just could not get it done. And it just takes one swing for guys to just kind of blow it open. It took a walk from JT to blow things open on the first night.

00:10:19
Speaker 2: So you know, hat tip.

00:10:22
Speaker 3: Kind of stuff that that's the stuff, that's the stuff that it's just one barrel ball that can oppen things up.

00:10:28
Speaker 2: And a hat tip to Brandon Marsh he put down a very nice sacrifice bunt on Sunday, and keyword being being sacrificed. He didn't try to beat it out, he didn't try to run out of the box. He got the bunt down, They moved the runner, They got the runner in against a good pitcher when one run can really make a difference, I thought that was a hell of an inning. Auto Camp has a big hit bunt fly ball, you know, two run inning. The way ranger was pitching, make it all stand up. So hey. That was first pitch presented exclusively by our partners at Parks Casino, Pennsylvania's number one casino Parkscasino dot com. You must be twenty one gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler Phillies fans.

00:11:12
Speaker 1: Whether you're sliding into home or just chasing your kids around the yard, staying mobile matters. That's why we trust Rothman Orthopedics. From sports injuries to joint replacements, They keep you moving with top specialists who care for the best team and the best fans in baseball. Rothman's got your back because at Rothman Orthopedics, your mobility is their mission. Visit Rothmanortho dot com to schedule today. I could use some help and then I could use.

00:11:45
Speaker 3: Some help I got. I got some some lower back issues going on right now.

00:11:51
Speaker 1: We're at this little swim club right around the corner from our house, and I was trying to throw my son, my nine year old, and he's like, throw me in the pull him. Like. Every time I threw, I was like I could feel the oblique slowly starting to rip away from my rib cage and I had to stop, as all right, we're done. He's like, we're done. Like we're done.

00:12:13
Speaker 3: So, guys, you have limitations. We have limitations. You know, as you get older, you get colder.

00:12:18
Speaker 1: You absolutely do. So, guys, it's Monday and it is time for Manco Manco Best Week. Manco Manco Best Week because Manco Manco is the best of the best. It's where we pick our best Phillies player performance play of the past week. It can be anything we want it to be. But uh, I feel like this week, there's like one guy maybe that stands out above the rest. And then as the guy that pitched yesterday, Ranger Swarez, Ranger Suarez, the guy you question.

00:12:54
Speaker 3: Ranger is the man. He's he's the man.

00:12:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, he is the man to starts this past week one point two to three ARRA, fourteen and two thirds innings, eight hits, two runs, three walks, fifteen strikeouts. The only two runs he allowed were solo home runs. But man, this guy is on a roll. One point one to nine ERA in his last ten starts. My colleague at MLB dot Com, Paul Cassell, has said that it is the lowest ERA by any Phillies pitcher over ten start ten start stretch since Cliff Lee in twenty eleven, since the mound was lowered in nineteen sixty nine. The only other Phillies with a sub one point two zero ARRA in a ten start stretch in a season Royal's Walt twenty ten, Steve Carlton nineteen seventy two.

00:13:45
Speaker 3: So Lee and Oswald huh yeah, yeah, it's interesting.

00:13:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I know he didn't he didn't have the velo yesterday. But we've talked about this many times. Over the life of our podcast, how much he does remind us of Cliff League when he's on you know, great location, you know, cuttering on righties, change up away, works fast, nothing faces some soft contact. Yesterday in Atlanta, Sunday in Atlanta, the average exit velocity against him was seventy six miles an hour.

00:14:18
Speaker 3: It's unbelievable, unbelievable. He was just fantastic. The thing that the thing that I love about him is like he's literally playing catch out there. He's playing catch with the catcher. He is a left handed Levon Hernandez. Anybody remember that name. Oh, Levon just went up there and just and at the end of his career, he's a little bit like like the other Dominican guy from the New York Mets, Bartolo Cologne. Like Bartol Coloon's just up there flipping it up there, man, Bartolo Coloone when he was younger could blow some gas. But then you know, he's had to make some adjustments over time. And it was just literally like going up there and playing catch, man, and it was it just a joy to watch him. There was there is some concern about the velocity, especially early in the game. He was eighty eight eighty nine. But you know a little bit like Jamie Moyer. He's still jamming guys. I mean he was like paint paint and then jamming a guy with a little cutter and they were just not getting the barrel to the ball because they couldn't see what was coming out of his hand and the location was impeccable. I mean, it's just fun to watch him work. And you know, you people keep talking about the same thing. Well, you got to sign him, you got no, you don't. You have to wait and see if he stays healthy and see if he gets due.

00:15:34
Speaker 2: The season matters right now, just all it matters right now to stay healthy. He is winning the World Series.

00:15:39
Speaker 1: That's crazy.

00:15:40
Speaker 2: Give me your best effort at winning this year's World Series and let everything happen after that.

00:15:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no reason to rush. Just there's no reason to rush to sign him. If they get a chance to sign a guy like Schwoburg, great, But there's no rush to sign a guy like that because he's got the history of you know, he's got the history of not being getting through you know, the season healthy.

00:16:04
Speaker 1: What if he finishes the season healthy, what do you think he could get on you know, let's assume he doesn't maintain this insane pace ten start pace he's on. But say he finishes the season healthy.

00:16:17
Speaker 2: Well, he's gonna if he finishes healthy and keeps this run up, he's gonna wedge his way into the cy Young discussion with Schemes and Wheeler and Web I'm probably missing about those guys. He's gonna be and even Sanchez has gotta be, you know, on the periphery. But if he continues this, he's good. I mean he could he you know, the numbers keep going up. I I look at Sean Maniah who got a twenty five million dollar aa V. Ranger's way better than him, and Max Freed got a twenty seven and a half million dollar aa V, so kind of focus on the AAV he got eight years of I mean, gosh, he's gonna if he keeps us up, we're going to make a lot of money.

00:17:02
Speaker 1: One of the guys I was looking at was Carlos They're both left, they both left these right and this is I mean different pictures of course, But like a guy like Carlos Radone, like he signed that like one hundred and sixty million dollar deal with the Yankees, and you look at he got that deal and he wasn't the most durable guy before I.

00:17:23
Speaker 2: Had a big walk year here with the Giants.

00:17:26
Speaker 1: Yes, huge year with the Giants, but before that, the guy was banged up a lot. You know, he seven starts one year. I think, you know, the COVID year, maybe like or for the next year or whatever. But I'm going, well, somebody paid that guy a crap ton of money and he was banged up a lot.

00:17:42
Speaker 2: So do you just think his AAV would be Rangers?

00:17:46
Speaker 3: I think his a of AABB somewhere between twenty five and twenty eight, twenty five and thirty. I could see him at twenty the way Boris works, and maybe a shorter deal and get the higher AAV so he can say, hey, he got a bigger AAV than you know, bigger AAV than somebody else, because that's that's what he always wants to make benchmarks. So the benchmark for a guy like Ranger is going to be the AAV because I don't think anybody's going to give him the length the seven year deal, this you know, eight year deal. I don't think they're going to do that because of the history. And I also think there's a lot of teams that are going to shy away from the velocity. These people who are running baseball teams in this day and age are not understanding how important it is to be able to pitch as opposed to throw, and so they get lit up by the velocity. And he doesn't have the velocity. So he may he may lose ten to twelve to fifteen teams just based on that. He also may lose that many teams just based on the overall AAV and the dollars. So I'm thinking somewhere between twenty five and thirty on the aa BE and I'm thinking probably a four to five year deal, maybe six at the most. And I think Boris is going to try to push it six and thirty and it'll be somewhere between one sixty and one eighty five, is what I'm thinking on a total deal.

00:19:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, So what I'm thinking, Yeah, say that number is out there, so it's it's hard for me to imagine the Phillies throwing that money out there for Rangers. Suarez.

00:19:27
Speaker 3: I don't see it.

00:19:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I again, we talked about this the other day. Even if the Phillies, even if you finish a star on the and John Middleton says, Dave, I want you to bring back Ranger Suarez. He pitched great first down the stretch. Hypothetically he helped the win win a World Series or whatever. Some other team I think is going to outbid the Phillies for him, so.

00:19:49
Speaker 2: In my opinion.

00:19:50
Speaker 1: But anyway, so uh rubin. Yeah, a lot of stuff going on this week. Phillies got the podres in the town. The Reds are gonna be in town this weekend. But if you're looking for something else to do, you could always swing by Parks Casino.

00:20:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, Park's Casino. It is my casino of choice. It's in Bucks County, I ninety five Street Road, Eggs off of I ninety five. If you like music like I do, then there is not a better concert place to go to. You can bring your all your buddies. It's a place where you guys can just hang out. You can go grab something to eat prior, you can go to the Gastro pub, you can go to Chicky's and Pets. There's all types of things to do there. You can have date nights, you can have all types of things. It's not just a place to go gamble. It's a place to just basically have some fun. Here's some line here's a lineup for what's going on. As far as the concerts are concerned. Gary Clark is playing Gary Clark Junior on July third. That's Thursday. That's this Thursday, Saturday, It's September sixth it's You Be forty man. That brings me back a little bit. Then on September three, alreadieth excuse me on scepter twentieth there's the Australian Pink Floyd Show which Wish you were here fiftieth anniversary. And on Friday, September twenty sixth, the Revitalists. There's so much going on at Parks Casino. Don't forget that. It's not just a place to gamble. It's a place to just enjoy yourself, bring your friends and have some fun. Tickets for all shows at Parkscasino dot com and you must be twenty one gambling problem one eight hundred gambler.

00:21:32
Speaker 1: Bryce Harper is he back Monday Night series open against the Padres? Sounds like he's close. I don't know how much money I would put on it, but I think he could be back on Monday Night.

00:21:44
Speaker 3: Possibly.

00:21:46
Speaker 1: He what did he do Friday. He took some VP Saturday, faced a couple of Phillies minor leaguers at Truest Park.

00:21:53
Speaker 3: So the feeling that I got from from the folks there in the clubhouse was that there's a very good chance that he could play on Monday. Now I know that Waldron is pitching. Matt Waldron's pitching. He's a knuckleballer. I'm not sure frankly if he wants to start his road back facing a guy who's tossing knuckleballs up there. That's not good for your rhythm. That said, I do think that he's going to be activated either tonight or tomorrow, and that's going to be a big boost, even if he's not Bryce Harper Bryce Harper, which he probably won't be. I think what you will get is sort of a domino effect of protection in the lineup and depth in the lineup, and anytime you have a superstar like that in there, it will affect the game plan, it will affect a lot of different things that are happening. It'll take some heat off some folks as well, and maybe he gets some exhales and let some guys do some damage who otherwise might think that they're trying to do too much.

00:22:59
Speaker 2: I could see them taking the extra day because sometimes you know, when a guy is ready to go, you take one more day and just to be safe. But and I know it's a knuckleballer. Here's a weird thought for you. When you face a knuckleballer, you swing easy? Perfect time Maybe for Bryce Harper come back swinging good thought?

00:23:18
Speaker 3: Have you ever swings? Have you seen Bryce Harper swing easy?

00:23:22
Speaker 2: Believe it or not, Yes, this is the time or two I've seen him swing easy, and I love the results. And you know, maybe it's a perfect way to come back because he takes some violence out and you know, see some pitches and don't stress your elbow. Swing easy, you know, swing easy. He's a strong man. He doesn't have to come out of his shoes every time.

00:23:44
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:23:45
Speaker 3: I don't disagree with that too. It's a good thought process. That's why you're a good baseball man and a tomato man.

00:23:51
Speaker 1: That's how are the tomatoes looking to Jim?

00:23:54
Speaker 2: They actually have had a night, you know since the storm. You know, I was out there yesterday staking them and tying them up.

00:24:00
Speaker 3: Where you're brushing them, you're brushing your banking spanked them and thanking.

00:24:06
Speaker 2: They're you know, they're they're really starting to you know, it's starting to make their move in the standings.

00:24:12
Speaker 1: I like that. I like that.

00:24:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, nice, but go this way.

00:24:17
Speaker 2: They're going that way.

00:24:20
Speaker 1: The Phillies offense could follow your tomatoes gym. Right. That's uh, that's that's the dream.

00:24:25
Speaker 2: Maybe if Price, you know, it's like you know in NASCAR race they they all draft off each other and Price is good card of draft off. You know.

00:24:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see, like can the wrist stay healthy? Like it seems to be kind of a weird thing where he says he doesn't need surgery and you know, came back. It bothered him all last year, bothered him into the off season, and he had this yesterday Sunday talked a couple of reporters and was asked about do you think the risk thing is going to linger? Could Linger say, I don't really know yet. I think it's going to take some time of playing and seeing kind of where I'm at. Being super upfront with you guys, I don't know as I go. Obviously you guys will know and see what I'm doing. But the thought and the hope is that I don't feel that.

00:25:14
Speaker 3: So let me just say one thing. The most fascinating part about this is when he comes back is not just his production, but what's going to happen on the roster and the lineup. Where are they going to go with Otto Kemp? Is Auto Kemp for your left field? And what do they do with Max Kepler? Does he stay on the team, does he get designated? Is he a platoon player?

00:25:41
Speaker 2: Well?

00:25:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm fascinated by what they're gonna do here because he's had, you know, a couple he's had some good days, he hasn't had a great days. I mean, I like Max Kepler. I think he I think he can provide some help to this ball club. But what happens to Max Kepler and Otto Kemp when this guy comes back? Straight for me, So you send Buddy Kennedy out and you straight platoon.

00:26:12
Speaker 2: Them, I'd give it a look because I think that.

00:26:14
Speaker 3: They want Auto Kemp in the lineup every day.

00:26:17
Speaker 2: Okay, then well if that's the case.

00:26:20
Speaker 3: That's why it's so fascinating to me.

00:26:21
Speaker 2: If you want him in the lineup every day, then you know why is Kepler here?

00:26:26
Speaker 3: I've had that it's you know, it's it is really really fascinating. I can't wait to see what's happening. I would assume that they'll send Buddy Kennedy out and then and then uh, and then decide what they want to I want to do. They think that they should go with a platoon or to go with their auto camp every day in left field. It's it's an interesting problem. And then you got the kid coming and what's going to happen when the kid comes from the cofford when he comes to center field, because that's that's when you move marsh to left field. And then you maybe then then it's a straight I don't know, we'll see. It's fascinating, Max.

00:27:08
Speaker 2: I see where you know, letting a couple of go would be discussed and on the table. But I think you can in the short term here take a peek of a platoon and see what happens. But it's interesting.

00:27:23
Speaker 1: Max doesn't sound Max's rhythm He's talked about. He kind of doubled down in the comments he UH made to Mac Gelba on Thursday in Houston. He talked to a couple couple of guys on Friday UH in Atlanta and basically said, yeah, I mean, I don't think I can get into a rhythm. I was told I was gonna be an everyday player, you know, or I was gonna play every day, and it's really tough for me and so many produce.

00:27:52
Speaker 3: You just have to produce situation. I mean, he's a one year deal guy. You have to produce, or if you don't produce, it's a production game. I know it's halfway through the season and he probably could, maybe he can. Maybe there's still a lot of production in him left. He's got ability, but does he do it for this team? I don't know. It's great, it's it's it's again. It's fascinating, and you better start.

00:28:16
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're Max Kepler, yeah, you better. If you're only going to play in a in a straight platoon against right hand pit you better start producing against those guys, because if you don't produce in a platoon this season, you're not gonna get an everyday job left next season unless you're playing on a you know, the Rockies or something like that.

00:28:37
Speaker 2: And you're the left you're a left handed hitter in a platoon two thirds set of pitching is right handed. You're gonna get a lot of playing time, a lot of chances to make something happen. But if he didn't start making something happen here in the short term, yeah, I think he's gonna be another one of their one year deals that is out the door, like Michael Saunders, like whip Meryfield.

00:28:57
Speaker 1: If Michael Saunders whim Maryfield, both of those guys as came to mind. So let's wrap this up. Monday night, Phillies opened a three game series against the Podres. We met Zach Wheeler six thirty five star because its fireworks tonight, I believe six thirty five stars Zach Wheeler versus Matt Waldron. As we discussed earlier, Matt Waldron is a knuckleballer. It's his season debut. He pulled an oblique in spring training, so he's been slowly working his way back. He held the Phillies to one run over seven innings almost a year ago, June nineteenth at Citizens Bank Park. So Matt Waldron, Yeah, he did.

00:29:36
Speaker 3: And the veteran guys don't like knuckleballers.

00:29:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, Rubin Leike, I looked up. I looked up. I was curious because there's not a lot of knuckleballers thrown today, right, but uh, you faced a couple knuckleballers.

00:29:49
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Wakefield, I hit nine line drives right at the first basement. That's all I did, and we're all at bat. I hit a rocket right at the first basement for an out. I was like one for a thousand against level you were.

00:30:01
Speaker 1: You were zero for six against Tim Wakefield, two walks, yep so and then your line.

00:30:07
Speaker 3: Drives at the first basement. I guarantee it.

00:30:10
Speaker 1: Tom Candiotti was.

00:30:12
Speaker 3: Righted him you you were three for eight.

00:30:15
Speaker 1: You were three for eight with a that's right against Charlie Huff. He did not face never faced Charlie Huff. I looked up. Steve Sparks was a guy that was throwing knuckleballs back in the day. You never faced him unless it's like a spring training game. But so the challenges, right, I guess of facing the knuckleballer.

00:30:33
Speaker 3: Get yourself on top of the plate. If you tie, let it fly, it's low, let it go. That will never happen because nobody moves in the box anymore. So whatever, Yeah, so that would be fun.

00:30:47
Speaker 2: You know, you probably have.

00:30:48
Speaker 3: Hit right handed against those knuckleballs. I thought about it, but I kept it in line. Drives at somebody sucked.

00:30:55
Speaker 2: Tuesday Night.

00:30:56
Speaker 1: We've got Christopher Sanchez versus Nicky Paveta Tuesday.

00:31:02
Speaker 3: Night, Nikki p who's having a hell of a year.

00:31:04
Speaker 2: Helvy alright leading the league wins.

00:31:07
Speaker 3: He's gonna want to try to stick it up. The old Phillies took us as.

00:31:10
Speaker 2: He always had good stuff.

00:31:12
Speaker 1: He's always had good stuff. He was a guy, you know, I remember the the well Ruben you you traded for him? Were you are you surprised at is this kind of what you envisioned? Or when you trade a guy like papal Bond of the Nationals, are you just going all right, let's he's got a good arm. Let's hope that, you know, we we hit a lottery ticket.

00:31:33
Speaker 3: I mean, he give you Jesse Levis who really pushed him. Jesse Levis pushed him, and I think maybe h Howie Fryling may have seen him as well. But I know Jesse was was high on him, and and we talked about it and he said, hey, give it a shot with this arm. Mike Gondo recommended that we make him run there and you end up getting a really good arm. He just didn't really pan out for the Phillies, but uh, but you know, sometimes it takes a little while.

00:31:59
Speaker 1: M yeah, it's it's and then Wednesday afternoon the series finale make Abel versus Dylan Cees. So the Padres they started fourteen and three, but since then, since April fourteenth, they're thirty one and thirty five, so they've been playing under five hundred ball for more than a couple months now. So there it's a team that you know, is not hasn't really put it all together. Philly's Philly should uh steal a challenge though still good.

00:32:33
Speaker 3: They have these next several, these next several I mean, this is a really this is like a gauntlet for them. It's a real litmus test for how how they're uh, how the season's gonna go, because I think Dave Nebrowski is gonna work off of how these guys play over the next three weeks to see, hey, what do we really need and uh, how can we fortify this team? That's good, there's gonna be a lot of quite since answered, I think over the next three weeks, what do.

00:33:02
Speaker 2: They really mean?

00:33:03
Speaker 1: Give me bullpen help?

00:33:05
Speaker 2: Bro agree, totally agree.

00:33:07
Speaker 3: Bullpen help. I know the offense is sputtering right now and it's fits and starts. But bull Pen, they need a bad ass two words bull Pen.

00:33:19
Speaker 1: I agree, I agree, they get get it. Get a late inning stud reliever at the you know, to help out the rest of the guys. And uh, like we said earlier, need Harper and Schwarburn turning all those guys to to produce offensively. So guys, we will be back later this week.

00:33:36
Speaker 2: Smell you later, boys, Smell you do.

00:33:39
Speaker 1: The Philly Show is brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. Subscribe to The Philly Show on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. If you like us, give us a review, follow us on Instagram, TikTok x, Facebook, and threads. Find Rubens analysis before, during, and after Phillies games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, on the Sports Radio ninety four Double yp Morning Show, and MLB Network. Find Jim at all pH l y dot com. Find me at MLB dot com, the Phillies Beat newsletter, and MLB Network